The present invention generally relates to the container manufacturing art and, more particularly, container conveyor and transfer apparatus used in connection with the decoration or coating of containers such as can body members.
At the present time, can body member type containers, sometimes also referred to as cans, are conventionally decorated or coated by continuously moving decorator apparatus, sometimes also referred to as printing or printer or coater apparatus, which has a continuously rotatable container carrying mandrel wheel with circumferential spaced container carrying mandrel devices for carrying undecorated containers along a first arcuate path of movement from a loading station to a transfer station, with circumjacent ink applying devices being associated with the container along the path of movement thereof to apply ink images onto the outer peripheral container surfaces. The decorated containers are conventionally transferred from the rotatable mandrel wheel to circumferentially spaced support devices on a continuously rotatable container transfer wheel which carries the decorated containers away from the rotatable mandrel wheel along a second arcuate path. The decorated containers are then conventionally directly transferred from the rotatable transfer wheel to longitudinally spaced support pins on a continuously moving container conveyor chain, sometimes referred to as a deco chain, by which the decorated containers are carried to and through an ink curing and drying oven. Examples of prior art apparatus of this type are shown in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. Porterfield 3,016,163; Brigham, et al. 3,227,070; Borkmann 3,231,061; Hartmeister 3,261,281; Smith, et al. 3,279,360; Brigham, et al. 3,300,019; Cartwright 3,469,670; Cvacho, et al. 3,496,863; Zurick 3,521,554; Cvacho, et al. 3,537,187; Sirvet, et al. 3,548,745; Cvacho, et al. 3,563,170; Sirvet 3,567,043; Gould 3,586,175; Russel 3,613,571; Sirvet, et al. 3,616,778; and Sirvet, et al. 3,766,851.
In order to prevent containers from falling off pins on a chain during conveyance to and through an oven, it has been conventional practice for many years to mount the chain in an inclined position so that the pins are upwardly inclined and hold the containers in an upwardly inclined position thereon as shown in D'Errico U.S. Pat. No. 3,176,823; Hartmeister U.S. Pat. No. 3,261,281, and Sirvet et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,766,851. In order to effect transfer of decorated containers from the rotatable transfer wheel of a decorator apparatus to a deco chain, it also has been conventional practice for many years to utilize a construction and arrangement such that the pins are gradually telescopically inserted into the containers, prior to effecting transfer of the containers onto the pins, by the simple expedient of causing relative axial displacement between the containers and the pins during conveyance between the rotatable transfer wheel and the deco chain as illustrated by the aforementioned patents.
In the prior art, the rotatable transfer wheel apparatus and mandrel wheel means have been of relatively complicated, expensive, heavyweight and large size construction to effect the required relationships of the containers relative to and between the rotatable mandrel wheel and the deco chain and to effect the transfer of the containers therebetween. Conventional rotatable transfer wheel apparatus has employed mechanisms to effect axial displacement of the cans carried thereby. Conventional transfer wheel apparatus and mandrel wheel apparatus have also employed mechanisms to change the path of movement of the cans from arcuate to linear during transfer of the cans. Thus, such prior art apparatus has not generally permitted the most effective use of available space and the most effective location and arrangement of the conventional apparatus. One attempt to solve some of these problems is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,479 of Dugan et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, which enables the elimination of the rotatable transfer wheel by the use of a continuously moving continuous loop lightweight inexpensive conveyor belt for conveying the containers directly from the rotatable mandrel wheel and for transferring the containers to the pins on the deco chain.
In general, the present invention solves the foregoing problems by use of a rotatable transfer wheel without any moving mechanical parts of the type heretofore employed for causing axial movement of suction cups to receive decorated cans from the mandrel wheel and associate the decorated cans with the deco chain. The present invention comprises a relatively narrow width lightweight rotatable support disk means. A plurality of suction cup means are fixedly mounted in circumferentially spaced relationship along the periphery of the support disk means for movement in a fixed circular path. Vacuum passage means, provided in the support disk means, connect each suction cup means to new and improved vacuum manifold means mounted adjacent the inner periphery of the support disk means.